Book covers manufacturing machine



Oct. 15, 1968 DEPETRIS ET AL 3,405,415

BOOK COVERS MANUFACTURING MACHINE Filed Feb. 16. 1967 United StatesPatent 3,405,415 BOOK COVERS MANUFACTURING MACHINE Lorenzo Depetris andGiovanni Depetris, Milan, Italy, assignors to Smyth Europea S.p.A.,Milan, Italy Continuation-impart of application Ser. No. 334,866, Dec.31, 1963. This application Feb. 16, 1967, Ser. No. 616,567

4 Claims. (Cl. 11-2) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The vertically movableshaft carrying two or more suction heads is roated always in the samesense by a reciprocating rack through a gear which is intermittentlycoupled with the shaft. To this end the gear is rotatably mounted on thesaid shaft and has provided therein two diametrically opposed holes. Theshaft carries a crossmember provided with an upstanding pin whichengages one of said holes when the shaft is in a fully lifted positionand which is kept free of said gear to enable it to rotate freely whenthe shaft is in a fully lowered position.

This application is a continuation-in-part of our prior copendingapplication Ser. No. 334,866 filed Dec. 31, 1963 now Patent No.3,334,758 issued Aug. 8, 1967.

This invention relates to an automatic or semi-automatic machine formanufacturing book covers of the general type described in thespecification of our copending application No. 334,866 filed Dec. 31,1963 now Patent No. 3,334,758 issued Aug. 8, 1967.

The machine according to the said co-pending application includes aconveyor comprising at least one suction head carried by a verticalshaft which is movable vertically between a lowered position and alifted position and rotatable step by step so that the suction headreceives paperboard blanks and back portions from a squaring station andtransfers them to a platform. The machine also includes means forremoving finished book covers from the platform and discharging themfrom the machine.

The present invention is specifically concerned with improved means forrotating the said vertical shaft.

In known machines of this type provided with one suction head only, thevertical shaft carries a gear wheel, meshing at least when said shaft isfully lifted, with a rack arranged in a plane perpendicular to the axisof said shaft and performing a reciprocating motion.

In order to move the suction head carried by an arm secured to the topof the said vertical shaft from the receiving or feed station to theplatform and back, the reciprocating motion of the rack is controlled bya cam carried by the main drive shaft. The cam is shaped to avoid anymovement of the rack and consequent rotation of the vertical shaft andwhen the latter is in its lowered position or while it is moving fromits lowered to its lifted position or vice-versa. Thus, the connectionbetween the rack driven gear wheel and vertical shaft should be of sucha nature as to allow axial displacements of the vertical shaft withrespect to the gear wheel meshing with the rack and simultaneouslyprevent relative rotation of the shaft and gear Wheel.

Furthermore, in machines having two suction heads offset from each otherthrough 180, symmetrically arranged to the vertical shaft axis, thevertical shaft should constantly rotate in the same directionnotwithstanding the reciprocating movement of the rack. Thisnecessitates disconnecting the rack driven gear from the vertical shaftduring the return stroke of the rack after having rotated through 180the gear together with the vertical shaft in order to simultaneouslydisplace one suction head from 3,405,415 Patented Oct. 15, 1968 itsposition above the squaring station to a position above the platform andthe other suction head from its position above the platform to aposition above the squaring station.

The object of the present invention is to provide a machine formanufacturing book covers with the vertical shaft carrying two or moresuction heads and always rotating in the same sense.

In such a machine there is provided in accordance with the invention, apin and hole driving connection between the gear wheel and the shaft,which engages when the shaft is in a fully lifted position, and whichdisengages when the shaft is lowered to enable the gear wheel to rotatefreely in the opposite sense during the return stroke of the rack.

In order that the invention may be clearly understood one particularembodiment thereof will now be described, by way of example, withreference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a diagrammatic part sectional side view showing the verticalshaft carrying the suction head and details of the means controlling therotation, lifting and lowering of the vertical shaft, and

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational view as seen from the right of FIGURE 1with the shaft in the fully lifted position and the pin and holeconnection in engagement.

In the embodiment of the machine shown in the drawings the verticalshaft 1 is arranged between the sidewalls of the machine frame, near therear cross wall 4. The shaft 1 has secured to its top the hub 5 of adouble arm 6 carrying the suction or picker heads 6a and 6b which aresimilar and symmetrical with respect to the axis of the shaft 1. Thebranches of the double arm 6 each carry a pair of cross members 7 havingsecured at opposite ends thereto suction necks 8 for lifting thepaperboard blanks (not shown). The suction necks are connected byconduits (not shown) with a source of vacuum.

The shaft 1 is rotatably mounted in the machine frame and isdisplaceable in height between a lowered position shown in FIGURE 1, inwhich one suction head picks up the back portion and paperboard blanks(not shown) at the squaring station 9, and the other suction headsimultaneously deposits the back portion and paperboard blanks on theplatform 10, and a lifted position shown in FIGURE 2.

The shaft 1 extends through a sleeve 11 rotatably mounted by means ofroller bearings (not shown) inside a stationary block 12 secured to therear cross wall 4. The sleeve 11 has its lower portion extending belowthe block 12, the said lower portion having keyed' thereon a gear wheel13 (see FIGURE 2). This gear wheel 13 meshes with a rack 14 slidablymounted in an L-shaped guide 15 (FIGURE 2). One end of the rack 14 isarticulated through a link 16 and a cross pivot 17 to a fork 18aprovided at the upper end of a lever 18 rockingly mounted on thestationary cross-shaft 19. The lever 18 is arranged adjacent a disc 20formed at its side facing the lever 18 with a continuous cam-shapedgroove 21 and keyed on the camshaft 2.2 of the machine which is rotatedin a known manner by means of a suitable gearing from the driving motor(not shown) of the machine. A roller 23 rides in the cam-shaped groove21 and is rotatably mounted on a pivot extending from the lever 18towards the disc 20. The groove 21 is so shaped as to reciprocate therack 14 during each full rotation of the camshaft 22 and effect rotationof the gear wheel 13 through during the movement of the rack 14.

In order to provide a driving connection between the vertical shaft andthe gear wheel, the gear wheel 13 is provided with a pair of eccentricholes 24 and 25 (FIGURE 2) symmetrically arranged with respect to theaxis of the 3 gear wheel and offset from each other by 180. The shaft 1has keyed thereto a cross-member 26 carrying a peg or pin 27 fitting inthe lifted position of the vertical shaft 1, into one or the other ofthe holes 24 and 25 in the gear wheel 13. The cross-member 26 carries ateach end, a pivot on which a roller 28 is rotatably mounted. During themain part of the displacements in height of the shaft 1, each of therollers 28 rolls along a guideway 29 secured to the rear cross-wall 4 ofthe machine frame, thus preventing any rotation of the shaft 1. Theguideways 29 terminate at the level of the lower edge 30 of an opening31 provided in the rear cross wall 4 near the level at which the gearwheel 13 is arranged. The part of the opening lying below the gear wheel13 is wide enough to admit free rotation of the cross member 26 with itsrollers 28 when the shaft 1 is in its fully lifted position in which thepeg or pin 27 is engaged in one or the other of the holes 24 or 25 inthe gear wheel 13, as shown in FIGURE 2.

The axial displacements of the vertical shaft are controlled by therocking movement of a double-armed lever 32 mounted for rotation on theshaft 19. The lower arm 32a of the lever 32 carries a rotatable lug 33(FIGURE 2) which engages in an annular circumferential groove 34provided in the lower end of the vertical shaft 1. The upper arm 32b ofthe lever 32 carries a roller (not shown) riding in a cam-shaped grooveprovided on one side of a disc (not shown) keyed on the camshaft 26 likethe disc 20. The cam grooves controlling the rocking movements of thelevers 18 and 32 are so shaped and angularly shifted with respect to oneanother that the forward displacement in the direction of the arrow 35(FIGURE 1) of the rack 14, and consequently the rotation of the shaft 1,cannot take place until the cross-member occupies a position above thelower edge 30 of the opening 31 whereas the return stroke of the rack 14can be performed only when the rollers 28 on the cross-member 26 are inthe guideways 29, thus preventing any possible rotation of the shaft 41, and the peg or pin 27 is fully disengaged from the gear wheel 13.

What we claim is:

1. A machine for manufacturing book covers having two or more suctionheads mounted on a vertically mo'vable shaft which is rotated by a rackthrough a gear wheel and always in the same sense, wherein a pin andhole driving connection is provided between the shaft and its drivinggear wheel, which engages when the shaft is in a fully lifted position,and which disengages to enable the gear wheel to rotate freely in theopposite sense during the return stroke of the rack.

2. A machine according to claim 1, wherein the holes are provided in thegear wheel and the pin is connected to the shaft.

3. A machine according to claim 2, wherein the driving connectioncomprises a gear wheel provided with a pair of eccentric holessymmetrically arranged with respect to the gear axis and offset fromeach other by and a pin connected to the shaft and adapted to fit intoone of the other of said holes when the shaft is in the fully liftedposition.

4. A machine according to claim 3, wherein means are provided forguiding the shaft during its vertical movements, said means comprising across-member connected to the shaft and carrying a roller at each of itsends, the rollers co-operating with guideways in the frame of themachine of such a length that rotation of the shaft is prevented duringits vertical movements except when it is in its fully lifted position.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,237,223 3/1966 Taylor 1l2LAWRENCE CHARLES, Primary Examiner.

